


Ghosts From Our Pasts

by Luna_rose140



Category: Harry Potter - Fandom
Genre: Character Death, Ghosts, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, M/M, Multi, PTSD, eight year
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-08
Updated: 2019-03-08
Packaged: 2019-11-13 23:31:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18041189
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Luna_rose140/pseuds/Luna_rose140
Summary: Harry comes back for an eighth year riddled with inner demons. He turns to a certain Hogwarts ghost for guidance, but finds something more.





	Ghosts From Our Pasts

Harry didn’t know why he was back for another year. Hermione had somehow convinced him and Ron to return. Saying something about “being a good influence” or something like that. Yet being there, it brought everything back. Everything from the year before. Knowing full well his friends would understand, Harry somehow felt alone. Alone like he had been when he willed himself into that forest. Alone when Voldemort’s fateful spell sent him tumbling against the earth. 

Most nights he could hardly sleep. Voices of those he had lost, screaming in his head. So he would wander. Wander through the crumbled hallways, in dire need of repair. He’d stand where his friends stood just a year before, knowing full well they had never stood again. Every night he’d find himself in the second floor girls bathroom, talking to one understanding ghost. 

Like any other night he found himself there again. This time Myrtle was talking to someone. Harry couldn’t see them, but could tell it was a boy from the sound of their voice. By the time Harry had made it to the sound of the voices only Myrtle was there.  
“Hello Harry.” She says pulling herself from the toilet, and hovering over to the messy haired boy.  
“Who were you talking to just then?” He asked her, as she made her way up to the window.  
“A friend. Someone like you. Someone who is lost.” She explains, peering up at the moon lit sky.

Harry stays there till sunrise, before returning to the Gryffindor tower and prepares for his day of classes.  
________________________________________

Harry’s nightly visits to the second floor became a routine, although his friends started to notice the dark circles under his eyes became darker and he became more sluggish.  
“Harry. Harry.” Hermione whispered while shaking him. He woke with a start, the class looking at him.  
“Now that Mr. Potter has decided to join us again we’ll continue.” Flitwick says from the from of the class. Harry’s cheeks redden in embarrassment, as the class turns to listen to the professor. Hermione nudges him and gives him a “we’re talking about this after class” look. The door to the classroom slams open, scaring the right shit out of the professor, as a tardy Blaise Zabini, Theodore Nott, and Pansy Parkinson stumble in.  
“Detentions for each of you after class!” Flitwick calls from the front, after seemingly composing himself. The three Slytherins make their way into the back corner. Harry turns to Ron who’s head is in their N.E.W.T.S study guide, face riddled with confusion.  
“Hey Ron?” Harry whispered quietly. Ron looked up and nodded, a form of communication that he was listening.  
“What do you suppose happened to Malfoy?” Harry asks, eying the three lone Slytherins.  
“Dunno. Suppose he just couldn’t face it. You know. I mean it must’ve been tough living with you know who for years.” Ron whispers back.  
“Sounds like you’ve got a soft spot for him.” Harry responds.  
“Shut it you two.” Hermione says from beside them.  
________________________________________

“Alright talk. We know you’ve been sneaking out at night and coming back at dawn.” Hermione says once they’re sat in the Great Hall.  
“I just walk around. I go see Myrtle. We talk. It helps. You know talking to someone who’s-“  
“Dead” Ron finishes for Harry.  
“Yeah. I guess. I mean I was technically dead. Voldemort did kill a part of me that day.” Harry explains, prodding his dinner with a fork.  
“You know you can come to us as well. We went through a war too. You’re not alone.” Hermione tried.  
“It’s not the same! You didn’t die! You didn’t watch your friends die because you were to afraid to face him! I have to live with that!” Harry cries. The rest of the hall is staring at him by now. Hermione just looks utterly stunned. He feels tears coming on as he rushes out of the hall and up to the second floor lavatory. 

Once there he collapses under the window and starts to cry. He cries until his head starts to ache. Until he’s rubbed his nose on the back of his sleeve so much that it had started to burn.  
“Potter?” He hears a voice call. He doesn’t look up, thinking it’s just someone from the Great Hall trying to relate to his sadness. The voice doesn’t make another attempt at contact and Harry is alone again.  
________________________________________

After a long chat with Myrtle, Harry finds himself trudging back to the dormitory. Being dead on his feet from the lack of sleep, he tips down the last couple stairs. A hand shoots out to catch him but he falls right through it and onto the floor.  
“Potter? Are you alright?” He hears from above him. The same voice from the bathroom. The recognizable voice that he just couldn’t figure out. Harry stood up slowly, his eyes trailing upwards to thank his attempted rescuer. To his ever so surprise there stood Draco Malfoy. Well floated would be a better term. He had blood stained his suit, right where his heart was. It took Harry a full minute to fully comprehend that his former school nemesis was dead.   
“How?” Was all Harry could muster out.  
“After I saved you in the courtyard. After I threw you my wand, Voldemort he ordered my father to kill me. It was obviously no trouble for him, but they had to hold my mother back.” Draco explains. Harry can see tears start to fall from Draco’s eyes. He himself feels start to brim in his own. Harry sits down on the stairs he had just previously fallen down, taking in what he had just heard.  
“I tried to fight back. I did. Even managed to run to this hallway. Then he got me. Same way you did in the bathroom Potter. That spell, the one that you nearly killed me with. That’s what my father used to end my life.” Draco finished. By now Harry was crying again. He didn’t know what to say. He wanted to almost hug him, but knowing that effort would be futile.  
“I’m sorry Draco.” He said finally.  
“It’s not your fault.” Draco reassured. And for once Harry listened. Maybe although Voldemort wanted him dead, there were other reasons for the war. That he needed not to blame himself for everything.  
“So I guess this is why you didn’t come back for an eighth year.” Harry asks. Draco laughs at that and just nods slightly.

They talk for hours. Right past breakfast. And past most of Harry’s classes, before Draco tells him that he souls probably get to his last classes of the day. Harry promises he’ll come back again. ________________________________________ Harry walks into Potions, knowing he’s more than a few minutes late. “Nice of you to join us Mr. Potter. Please take a seat next to Mr. Zabini, seems he’s without a partner today.” Slughorn says from the front of the class. Harry slips in next to Blaise. They finish the potion early with about ten minutes left of class. “Hey Zabini?” Harry asks. “What is it Potter?” Blaise mumble ms in reply. Harry contemplates the question in his head, making sure it’s the right one. “Did you know?” He asks. “Know what Potter? There’s a lot of things I could know. “About Draco.” Harry says. Blaise’s eyes go wide. “How the hell do you know that?” He asks Harry. Blaise’s knuckles turning white from gripping the table. By then the other two Slytherin’s had noticed Blaise’s little outburst. Theo Nott suddenly appeared by Blaise’s side. “Best if we calm down Blaise. Don’t want too much attention now.” Theo says, trying to calm Blaise. “Potter knows about Draco.” Blaise said, after calming down some. Harry felt the eyes of the two Slytherins on him. “And he’s gonna tell us how he knows that. Eh Potter?” Theo says. He nudges Harry, waiting for an explanation. “I was wandering through the corridors and I found him. He told me what happened. He was civil. None of that petty school squabbling.” Harry explains. Hoping he’s calmed the two boys before him. Theo nods and turns to Blaise. “Fine then Potter. Just don’t tell your merry gang then.” He says as Slughorn dismisses the class. Harry watches as the two Slytherins leave. “I wasn’t planning on it.” He mumbles to himself. ________________________________________ Harry’s midnight walks to the girls lavatory, transitioned to talking to Draco in the stairwell. They would talk about the years before the war. Where Harry learned that Draco had learned sign language, in order to communicate with the merfolk. Harry in turn told Draco of the time he and Hermione had saved Sirius in their third year. They swapped story after story. Harry told him about the Dursley’s, and Draco told Harry that he had been allergic to cinnamon. They became as one would call, friends.


End file.
